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Help Understanding Omas Models


mauckcg

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So i don't have a first run but a 93ish or later when the pearl grey became what it is now. Interesting.

That thread link kind of makes Omas sound like an old Italian company that just did random things because. Makes a bit more sense why i can't find much hard information on what was produced when in what form.

Seems to be a common trait for many Italian companies. Identifying Visconti pens can also be tricky, and as Jar wrote, cars and their components are also not easy.

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Those are the "new" models, post about 2005. However, until the very end Omas also made new Paragons with the pre 2005 form factor so I say new in quotation marks.

Those "new" models are also a lot larger than thr older form factor so that a new Milord is larger than the old style Paragon.

Ah, thanks. That clarifies it. Well, no it doesn't, does it? Does give accurate info though, and for that, thanks.

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I have a pen in Saft Green that looks like yours, same cap band, section & two toned nib. It has "1992" on the rounded section (in line with the arrow engraving on the nib above it,) immediately below the threads & "OMAS Extra" on the body of the pen. It has faceted sides & measures 5 1/2 inches, which converts to 13.97 cm, so pretty close to 14. The "Extra" has always thrown me, because I don't have a clue what it means; I always considered it an earlier Paragon & hence smaller than the more recently produced ones. Perhaps it is a Milord & I don't know, either?

 

 

Th pen shape that people now call the "old style paragon" traces it's ancestry to the pen Omas released in 1932, the Omas Extra. The shape has remained the same since 1932 The larger '2005' Paragon shape came later [a lot of people know how I feel about those pens so I won't rehash that here.] The Omas Extra is the pen that really established the identity of Omas. The originals were all lever fillers. Round versions came a bit later although an ebonite prototype of the round pen is supposed to exist and dates to the late 1920's.

 

Thus the inscription 'Omas Extra'. You find this inscription on many of the Omas pens through the years even though they may have other designation (see Jar's Ogiva pen in the post above). Sometimes the inscription will read Omas Extra XXX with a number like Omas Extra 352 (a holy grail pen). Even after 1946, when Omas started introducing piston filler s and 555,556, 557 designations, the pens were really still Omas Extras. The terms Arte Italiano, Paragon, Milord, etc. came much later in the history of Omas and are more marketing terms.

 

As a side note, 'Extra' has been used by a lot of Italian pen companies usually for their premier line of pens. For example, Montegrappa Extra (1930's through the 1940's) It is a common pen designations among Italian pens.

2020 San Francisco Pen Show
August 28-30th, 2020
Pullman Hotel San Francisco Bay
223 Twin Dolphin Drive
Redwood City Ca, 94065

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Thank you very much for the explanation about the "Extra," I also looked @ an older Ogivia styled pen I have & found same, on the barrel. It is a very small bit longer than the Saft Green pen, yet considerably shorter than my other Ogivia, a Burkina that was one of the 90 produced just before the company closed.

 

It is a yellow, I presume cotton resin, the same color as another Omas 360, both these pens have the single colored gold nibs as does a Black 360. All these nibs are very pleasing & make me happy when I use them.

 

I appreciate your taking the time to explain the history of Omas pens. I have never been disappointed in any of these pens & consider myself lucky to have found them.

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Thank you very much for the explanation about the "Extra," I also looked @ an older Ogivia styled pen I have & found same, on the barrel. It is a very small bit longer than the Saft Green pen, yet considerably shorter than my other Ogivia, a Burkina that was one of the 90 produced just before the company closed.

 

It is a yellow, I presume cotton resin, the same color as another Omas 360, both these pens have the single colored gold nibs as does a Black 360. All these nibs are very pleasing & make me happy when I use them.

 

I appreciate your taking the time to explain the history of Omas pens. I have never been disappointed in any of these pens & consider myself lucky to have found them.

 

 

If you really want to try the best Omas nibs, look to the pens from the 1930's through 1950's. The modern nibs just don't compare.

2020 San Francisco Pen Show
August 28-30th, 2020
Pullman Hotel San Francisco Bay
223 Twin Dolphin Drive
Redwood City Ca, 94065

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If you really want to try the best Omas nibs, look to the pens from the 1930's through 1950's. The modern nibs just don't compare.

Actually I just finished trying one a friend sent me, today; a very small nib, heart shaped breather hole, marked "Omas, 585, extra." This is the first vintage nib from Omas that I have seen or used & indeed it is a MUCH different nib from any others I have used!

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